Shirley Jackson

Jackson, Shirley, 1919–65, American writer, b. San Francisco. She is best known for her stories and novels of horror and the occult, rendered more terrifying because they are set against realistic, everyday backgrounds. Her best-known work is "The Lottery," a harrowing short story first published in the New Yorker in 1948. Jackson's novels include The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962). The Magic of Shirley Jackson (1966) and Come Along with Me (1968) are posthumous collections of her stories. She was married to the critic Stanley Edgar Hyman.